THE FOG
by Damiad The LoreMaster
Summary: AU: Naruto is a skilled thief, who is suddenly summoned to a land forsaken by the gods and the world itself. He soon aligns with 2 females in a effort to save the land from its demonic curse, and they begin to bond on their journey. NaruxSakuxIno LEMONS
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_**NARUTO: THE FOG**_

_CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE_

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AN: Well thank you first and foremost for checking out the story, its my first on the site and I hope it becomes popular. I figure this will be a good learning opportunity for practicing my novel writing. This plot was one i had been messing around for a novel plot but then I stumbled upon this website and decided to twist it around and make it work with what seems to be the most popular section of the website, Naruto. So i hope you like it. I have taken inspiration from many sources to write this so please don't give me shit about it. This prologue is a back story to the plot and I am posting it at the same time as the second chapter, so if u don't see chapter two, try refreshing the page or going to my profile. THIS**_ IS_** AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE TYPE STORY WITH FUTURE**_ LEMONS_**. So lets begin. Please READ AND REVIEW. Thank you

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"_On the first day, the gods gave form to reality and with it the earth. On the second day, upon earth was planted life and with it humans. On the third day man was granted a soul, and with it clarit__y. On the fourth day, man was granted magic and with it a trial..._" -Scriptures of Creation

There once was a continent that sat separated from the rest of the world by miles and miles of ocean. A once beautiful and glorious land known as Elysium. It was a land that was filled with valuable minerals and ore such as silver and gold.

Elysium served as a trade center for the world, importing and exporting countless varieties of goods to and from other lands across the world.

Elysium was divided into two nations; Alabaster the northern nation and Ekratan the southern nation. For years the two nations were at peace, but when the 5th emperor of Ekratan; Alexander Kovenhiem, inherited the kingdom, he felt that his nation deserved to control the whole continent and its valuable supply of resources. So with greed in his heart and ambitions filling his soul, he declared war on the bordering nation of Alabaster.

Within a years time, the continent was ripped asunder by the clash of the two mighty nations, swords clashed and magic echoed and after a decade of war the once beautiful land was irrevocably scarred. All trade with the outside world was ceased.

After the assassination of the his father, Aldin Alabaster; the 6th king of Alabaster, rose to the throne promising his people he would find a way to end the war.

Aldin, who was an accomplished sorcerer ordered his trusted and powerful court Magi to create a power that would end the war and return the kingdoms to piece once more. They soon turned to the power of the human soul...

After 3 years of trifling with the magic arts, Aldin and his magi developed the art of Soul Siphoning, an art that allowed a person to claim the soul power of whom ever they defeated in battle.

With this new found power and knowledge the war quickly turned in Alabaster's favor. With each kill their army grew stronger and stronger. Soon Aldin and a group of his most trusted knights and magi invade the capital of Ekratan and captured Alexander Kovenhiem, thus ending his twisted reign and ambition. Returning the two nations to peace. They left Ekratan under its own laws, with a new found democracy.

With the power of the soul arts Aldin ushered in a new age of prosperity and peace to the continent of Elysium and re-established the trades with the rest of the world.

The next ten years became known as the Soul Age, on Elysium. But over that time Aldin became obsessed with the Soul Arts, dedicating his every waking moment to studying the human soul and advancing his powerful craft. He eventually came to the realization that the Soul Arts were limited in its advances as people needed to die to siphon their souls. He became concerned and so enthralled by it that he began to order his magi to to find away to create souls from nothing.

Many believed this to be insulting the gods. They believed their king was trying to do what was reserved for only the gods. This however did not stop Aldin. He promised his people that this would bring even greater prosperity without the need for bloodshed.

The end of the Soul Age was marked by Aldin's success in the creation of the first synthetic soul. But when the king attempted to siphon the soul of artificial construct, something terrible went wrong. The artificial soul was flawed, it immediately began to rip apart Aldin's own soul, corrupting and twisting his very being.

Through Aldin and the artificial soul... the first demon was born...

The demon Aldin slaughtered his magi and with their sacrifice tore open a gateway to the Nexus, lusting for more power.

As the doorway to the Nexus opened, Aldin used it as a catalyst to flood the land of Elysium in his own dark energy. This energy reached the farthest ends of the continent, twisting and corrupting those who lived there, human and animal alike, into demons themselves.

Immediately after the dark energy subsided the gateway to the Nexus released a deep fog that covered all the land... shutting off the land of Elysium from the world.

Over the Millennium, countless travelers, wanderers, warriors and adventurers alike, have traveled to the forsaken fog engulfed land... and none have ever returned.

This is were our story begins... with the chosen 3...

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TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 2: The Chosen

**_NARUTO: THE FOG_**

_CHAPTER 2: THE CHOSEN_

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AN: This is where our story really begins. I hope you enjoy, READ AND REVIEW please

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It was night time in the large city of Geridian, a full moon high in the sky. peaceful and quaint, but that peace was shattered by a mans yelling

"A THIEF! A THIEF STOLE THE STATUE OF HILLANA!" the mans voice echoed out from a building.

A young man jumped out of a window down to the street of a bazaar, shattering the glass. He wore a long white jacket that went to his knee's, and a hood which he had on his head, covering his eyes, black pants with pouch like pockets on his thighs, and a black vest under the jacket. on the back of his hips were two sheathed swords crossed like an 'X'. He looked around quick before a loud bell began ringing throughout the city.

In his left hand he held a golden statuette of what appeared to be an angel "Dammit, I didn't think they would sound the Alarm so fast, I gotta move..." he said to himself as shards off glass landed all around him.

He slid the golden statuette in to the pouch on his left leg before dashing down the street at high speeds as a guard stuck his head out the window the thief had jumped from

"HE'S RUNNING WEST DOWN THE MARKET STREET!" He hollered, before jumping out of the window himself

The young man turned his head to look behind himself seeing the guard then smirked and turned forward only to see four guard turn on to the street ahead of him one held two vicious looking dogs that yanked at their leashes, eager to attack the thief.

"Uh oh..." He muttered to himself before looking up to his right seeing a balcony ledge with an open window. He quickly and agilely leaped up and grabbed the ledge pulling himself up and front flipping over its rails in one swift move.

He then lunged forward through the open window and rolled into the room... which just so happened to be an unsuspecting woman's bathroom, who was bathing in a tub "AAHHHHHHH" She shrieked and covered herself up as the Thief finished his roll on his feet and he dashed out of the room... only to seconds later pop his head back in through the door

"Heeeyy... looking good" He said with a smile just before he heard the yells of the guards from the street

"He's in the residential building, surround it and find him!" the guard yelled

"Oh crap... I gotta go..." He said before pointing to the terrified woman "But you keep looking sexy" he chuckled just before a brass water can smashed into the wall next to his head and he retreated to the hall

On the other side of the building he pushed the shutters of a window open and saw guards coming from both ends of the street below, then looked forward and noticed a light poll that had 2 lanterns hanging from it to illuminate the night street.

He jumped from the window and grabbed to edge of the top of the poll and whilst he hung there grabbed the lantern closest to him and unhooked it from its place and tossed it at the ground in front of the guards to his left, it popped and burst fire out causing them to stop briefly. The thief pulled himself up and front flipped on top of the poll he grabbed the other lantern and chucked it to his right to slow those guards down as well before leaping to the building on the other side of the street.

He latched onto the ledge and pulled himself to the top of the roof before continue his dash. He jumped from building top to building top and came to a halt when he saw a row of several archers ahead, ready and aiming their bows.

They fired and thinking fast he dropped down between two buildings in an alley way before sprinting ahead and into a street and turning right only to be stopped ball a wall of guards "Wellll... not going that way..." He said to himself before turning around seeing another wall of guards "Damn... how many guards does this fucking city have?"

A guard in a unique silver-ish armor stood in the middle of the wall of guards "Give it up... you aren't getting away from us" he stated seriously in a gruff voice.

"Now you're just not giving me any credit..." The thief said cockily, with a shrug, before looking up seeing several archers on the roof tops above him "Okay so maybe you are..."

"There's nowhere for you to run" One of the guards said.

"So you're the infamous thief known as the Silver Fox huh?" The guard captain asked "You live up to legend; agile, quick witted, cunning, fast and daring. But you stole from the wrong city this time Fox"

"Hhmm so I see you have heard of me... that makes me feel good that my names getting out there" The thief said with a smirk.

"You won't feel good when we're through with you. and we guards will get to split your hefty bounty of 6000 gold coins" The lead guard said

The Silver Fox's face drooped and a sweat bead ran down the back of his head "Seriously? its only at 6000? I figured it would be at least three times that by now" he proclaimed.

"What you just stole was the Statue of the patron goddess of protection, Hillana. That is a heresy! a Crime you'll be hung for" the captain stated as the walls of guards closed in on him

"You mean this thing?" The silver Fox said tossing the statuette up and down in his left hand "Yeah I never really was too religious... the gods never did _me_ any favors. You want it so bad, Why don't you try and take it?"

"We INTEND to! SEIZE HIM" the guard ordered and two of his men that stood next to him ran in readying their swords

The silver Fox merely smirked and tossed the statuette high into the air as the archers began releasing their arrows, he jumped up and forward, planting his left hand on the shoulder of a guard the first guard as he swung his sword, flipping over the attack with ease as he unsheathed one of the two blades on his hip(a Falchion) with his right hand and in the process deflected an arrow that would have hit him otherwise. He completed the flip by twisting his body and kicking the guard in the back of the head, sending him to the ground face first.

He landed and as a second guard approached him from behind and he jumped back up and spun around, landing a round house kick into his head, knocking him to the side of the street in to a produce stand, effectively destroying it.

As the Fox landed he opened his left hand and reveal a glowing white magic circle that appeared in his palm before snapping his fingers towards the rooftop to his right sending out a thin, fast moving jet of silver fire at the edge of the roof, which detonated on impact and sent the archers rolling back.

Two more guards came at him. One in front of him and one behind him, but he spun around and kicked a chunk of stone debris that was falling from where his fire attack hit. The stone collided with the guard in front's head, letting out a metal PING noise upon impact with is helm. In the same spinning motion he turned around and avoid the other guards downward swipe before smashing the bottom of his falchion's hilt into the exposed back of the guards neck, knocking him unconscious instantly.

His revolution ending with him on one knee and his left hand behind his back in time to catch the statuette before it hit the ground. He looked up at the lead Guard and smirked.

The captain of the guard growled furiously "KILL HIM!" he shouted and the remaining archers were once again ready to fire, unleashing a hail of arrows at the thief who twirled his falchion in his fingers and deflected two arrows and rolled forwards avoiding the rest, he turned around to face a few guards that were charging him and one swung his sword down at him but he held the statuette up and the guard barely stopped his blade from hitting it.

The Fox then kicked the guards halted sword out of his hands which stabbed into the shoulder of another guard, knocking him down, then tossed the statuette to the now unarmed guard "hold this" He said quick before kicking him in the gut backing him away then crouching under a horizontal swipe of a guard behind him, then twisted around hooked is arm behind the guards knee lifted it up and reeled forwards sending the guard face first into another one, slamming them both to the ground.

The thief front flipped and landed his feet hard on the guards he had just slammed together before jumping forward at the confused guard he tossed the statuette to. He kicked upward and knocked the statuette out of his hands and then spun around fast and hard to collide the bottom of his falchion's hilt into the side of the guards head. Knocking him to the ground on his side.

He rolled backwards avoiding yet another guards sword swipe, came to a halt just to the guards left and behind him a little before the magic circle appeared in his hand and lit up with silver fire. He planted his blazing hand the guards ankle, instantly melting the armor to the ground, pinning him in place in the process

"What the hell? he melted my greave!" the guard shouted angrily as the thief jumped backwards, and not a second after landing jumped up whirled around and hooked his left leg around the last guards head which brought him down with The Fox on on top of him, his leg still around his neck pinning him in place.

The Fox reached up to grab the statuette as it fell but the captain snatched it from mid air before he could "I'll take that!" He said angrily before swiping his sword down the the thief who held up his Falchion and blocked the heavy attack. The silver Fox's blade began to get pushed down slowly.

"rrrrr... a muscle-head huh?" He mocked the captain

"This muscle head is about to put you to death and still you yammer on like you're the best there is..." The captain said slowly winning the power struggle

"That's because I **_AM_** the best there is..." The thief smirked "You know what the weakness of big heavily armored guy is?"

"Enlighten me..." The captain growled.

"The hinges..." The Fox said, and quickly used his left hand to grab the other of his blades, a Scimitar and unsheathed it and with lightning speed stabbed its tip in between the hinges of the captains leggings, piercing straight through to his bone and joint

The captain roared in pain, stopping his pressure on the Fox's blade just enough for him yank on his scimitar like a lever causing the captain to buckle at the knee and fall backwards with a thunderous crash.

The thief yanked his sword from the captains leg and released the guard whose head was trapped in his leg before jumping back and sheathing the scimitar. "Go ahead and keep that statue" He said before snapping his fingers in his left hand and all of a sudden smoke erupted from the thief hand and filled the area.

The guards began to get up as the smoke cleared and looked around... the thief was gone

The captain coughed through the smoke and sat up

"Captain are you okay?" one of the guards asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, we got the statue back... that's all that matters... that little bastard didn't get the better of us today..." He said rubbing his head

"uuhhh... captain..." a Guard said pointing to his captains left hand

"What...?" He asked as he turned his attention to the statue in his hand. The top half of the statue was hinged open like a container... hollow in side, save for a lone rolled up note "WHAT THE HELL!" he shouted before pulling out the note and unraveling it

The note simply read "_SUCKERS! - with love, The Silver Fox_"

Blood vessels popped out of the captains head and his face turned a dark furious red "RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHH. THIS ISN'T OVER FOX! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!"

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In an eerie fog covered forest...

A Black robed woman stood next to a camp fire, holding a wooden staff out horizontally in front herself and over the fire, with her left hand in front of her face with her index and middle fingers extended upwards and she began a chant "O dii custodes sæculi dico tibi ... clamorem meum ... sentire spiritus mei anima, da hoc derelicta terra bellatores ... bellatorum ut ferre de iudicium et superexaltate hoc maledictus caligo ... bellatorum disperdam vetus, primum daemonium ... Fero mercedem sanguinis, o Exaudi orationem meam, spiritus sanctus in nomine tuo ... NISI HOC TERRA!" she said before releasing her staff which floated in place and pulled out a small curved dagger and slit her right index finger, letting the blood fall to the fire.

When the drop of blood hit the fire it crackled loud and grew in size, turning blue "Come to me warriors... you are desperately needed..."

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The underground aqueducts of Geridian city...

The Silver Fox walked along the stone path next to the flowing water chuckling to himself "Morons... I bet they are having an aneurism right now. I can't believe they thought I wouldn't have a back up plan. Just put up a little struggle for the fake and they instantly think its the real one... simpletons" he laughed humorously to himself before reaching into his leg pouch and pulling out the real statuette with a mischievous grin

He pulled his hood down revealing his blond spiky hair "The Silver Fox, Uzumaki Naruto, wins once again

"Why hello Hillana, patron god of protection... oh-oh I'm sorry, 'goddess' heheheh" He said to the statue "you know if you hadn't just left me as a homeless orphan child I wouldn't have to steal you... so much for your protection..." He said before coming up to a drainage pipe that let water flow into a lake near the city

He pulled out his falchion with his right hand and swiped it twice at high speeds slicing the metal bars of the pipe and causing them to fall, leaving an opening for him to walk through

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Soon he was in a near by cave "This will do for the night..." He said to himself before putting the statuette on a stone "Heheheh, once I sell to that buyer I lined up I'll be beyond rich" He grinned mischievously before walking to the mouth of the cave and looked around "Yep... I'm in the clear... oh yeah-gonna be rich. Oh yeah-gonna be rich" He sung to himself cheerfully

Just when he couldn't be any happier he started to glow with a blue light and looked down at himself "What the fuck..?" He said in confusion "Is this... a summoning..? Fuck this is not good, it takes some serious freaking mojo to summon a person... Geridian considers human summoning to be a dark art, so they wouldn't do this... CRAP! MY STATUE!" He yelled to himself and he turned around and started running towards his prize as his body began to fade and grow transparent

He reached out for the statue "No-no-no-NO!" and just as he was about to grab it he vanished in thin air, leaving the statue where it sat...

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Back in the fog covered forest...

The Black robed woman stood in front of the blue fire holding her staff, leaning against it and panting heavily. Just then a blue magic circle appeared on the round next to the fire to her right.

She turned her head to see "Thank the gods... they granted my prayer..." she panted as she pulled her hood down revealing her dark lavender hair, and a bandaged up left eye. Her right eye had no pupil, only a light lavender iris.

Blue light lifted from the magic circle and began to form into our beloved thief "No-no-no-NO!" He shouted as he came into a physical manifestation and the light faded from around him

"NOOOOOO! My precious score..." He cried out, falling to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks like rivers "I was so close... SOOOO CLOSE! This is how you know... there are no gods..." he whined pathetically

"Umm..." The woman in black said, catching Naruto's attention, who stopped crying and looked to his left to see her

"YOU!" He shouted pointing an accusing finger at her, startling her a bit and her shoulders jumped a bit "YOU DID THIS DIDN'T YOU?" he shot to his feet and was on her in a heart beat grabbing the collar of her robe with both hands "Send me back!"

He shook her back and forth "SEND ME BACK NOW! Or so help me I'll-Ill-Ill..." He couldn't even speak his rage was so great

The woman, in her weakened state, went limp from the violent shaking, and blood began to drip from her nose and mouth

"Hey... hey don't pass out on me! Hey are you okay?" He yelled as he lowered her to the ground gently, his earlier anger replaced by concern "Hey wake up, wake up" he said, Before brushing her long hair out of her face "Whoa... she's beautiful..." he said as her eyes slowly opened, she heard his comment and blushed a little looking up at him

"Are you okay lady?" He asked, sitting back and dropping to his butt as she sat up

She rubbed her head "Yeah... you shaking me made me dizzy... not to mention I was already weak from the summoning" She said rubbing her head

Tears began steaming down Naruto's cheeks again "So it was you... why? Why?" he asked pathetically. Curling his fingers in front of himself "I had the statuette... I got away and even had a buyer lined up... All my problems were gonna get fixed with that money"

"I'm sorry... but you must understand young thief... I had no choice..." She explained

"What possible reason could you have had for summoning me?" He continued crying, but then suddenly stopped "Wait... how do you know I'm a thief?"

"I am known by many names but the one you are most likely to know is-" She was cut off when another magic circle that appeared to the her left by the fire, and seconds later one across from her on the other side of the fire "So I did manage to succeed in summoning multiple warriors..."

Naruto looked at the magic circles "You summoned more that me?" he asked

"Yes... that was my plan..." she said and from the light that lifted from the circles two females appeared and materialized.

One was blond, with long hair that went back into a ponytail, she wore fishnet like wrapping around her each of her knees and elbows, and had a purple vest with a fishnet armless shirt underneath it and a purple skirt. she opened her eyes reveal the turquoise spheres.

The other female had pink hair, with an over throw red jacket with short sleeves and white trim, she had a short loose skirt with skin tight shorts underneath that went halfway down her thighs, and she had dark red fingerless gloves on. She opened her emerald colored eyes and looked around "W-What that hell..? Where am I?" she said before noticing the others and she immediately took a defensive stance

The blond girl looked at her "I don't know, I was just eating my dinner and next thing I know a blue light consumes me and then I am suddenly here..."

"_Wow... their freaking gorgeous"_ Naruto thought to himself, then snapped out of it and pointed at them "You think you two have it bad? I was about to become rich and then POOF I'm here!" He then pointed to the lavender haired girl "She did it!" he said

The two females looked at the black robed woman "Whats going on?" the blond asked

The pink haired girl walked towards her "you better start explaining this or I'm gonna pound your head into the dirt" She said tightening her glove around her fist

"Calm yourselves warriors... I've summoned you here for a very important reason" She said

"So explain..." The blond demanded

"First off you must know who you all are" The woman said as she stood up with the aid of her staff. Naruto stood up as well

She pointed to the blond as her right eye shined a light purple for a split second "Yamanaka Ino, known as the bounty hunter 'The Panther'..." She then pointed to the pink haired girl "A Holy Guardian of the sacred city of Alumur, Haruno Sakura." she then trailed her finger to Naruto "Infamous Thief known as The Silver Fox, Uzumaki Naruto"

Ino whipped her head to Naruto and glared, who turned her and jumped a little "Hey, don't give me that look, aint no one collecting my bounty!" He said pointing his thumb to his chest

"Okay, first off, how do you know who we are? and second where the hell are we?" Sakura asked

"You are in a land forsaken by the gods... The land of Elysium... surely you feel the evil fog creep down your spine" She explained "And i know who you are because that is my gift from the gods... I am most commonly known as The All-Seeing Witch, Hinata"

"Bullshit... The All-seeing Witch existed over 600 years ago..." Ino said in a matter of fact way

"Yeah. She vanished when she traveled to the the land of Elysium in an attempt to save it from the fog" Sakura said crossing her arms

"I didn't even believe she EVER existed" Naruto said

"You doubt me? Well that doesn't matter... you all have been summoned here to the Land of Elysium... in answer to my prayers..."

"You seriously dragged us to that god forsaken hell hole?" Ino asked angrily "WHY?"

"I did not choose you... the gods did... you are the ones that will lift the fog from this and save it from its plague... you are the chosen 3..."

The 3 warriors exchanged looks and then in unison whipped their attention back to Hinata "WE'RE WHAT!" the proclaimed

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TO BE CONTINUED

Thank you for reading, please review and tell me what you think... until next time... this is DAMIAD signing off from THE VOID!


	3. Chapter 3: The Beginning of the End

_**NARUTO: THE FOG**_

_CHAPTER 3: THE BEGINNING OF THE END_

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AU: Okay here is chapter 3... this is where our beloved characters will learn a bit about each other and themselves while they learn what they must do... and it wont kill you to drop me a review lol

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Somewhere in the ocean...

A large wooden boat with massive sails, was trekking across the ocean. Rain drizzled lightly from the gray sky and waves battered the sides of the boat. The wood creaked and ached as it traveled.

"The storm is gonna get bad soon men!" The captain of the boat hollered just before lightning crackled through the sky above and a second later the thunder pounded.

"Cap'n what should we do with our passenger?" A sailor asked his captain.

"Go fetch him..." The captain ordered.

"Aye-aye cap'n" The sailor acknowledged and then ran down the stairs to the main deck before jogging across to the hatch on the floor.

A lone man with black spiky hair sat in the lower level of the ship against the wall on a secured stool. He had his arms crossed and his head down. He wore a long sleeved black coat that had then metal pads on the shoulders, black metal gauntlet on his right hand that his sleeve rested under a dark blue undershirt and dark blue pants with metal knee pads sewn into them, steel tipped boots topped his wardrobe off and a sheathed Katata sat horizontally across the back of his hip.

The hatch at the top of the stairs to his left, swung up and open and the sailor took a few steps down the stairs "Hey, cap'n wants to see you" he said.

The man turned his head to his left and looked at the man revealing his blood red irises. He rose to his feet and walked up the stairs to the deck. He followed the sailor to Captain who walked down from the upper deck.

"Okay, this is your stop... we aren't getting any closer to that hellhole of a continent..." The captain said crossing his arms before walking the man over to a life boat that hung off the side of the ship from ropes and winches.

The man stepped up on the side railing of the boat ready to board the life boat, but the captain grabbed him by the shoulder stopping "Ahem... the rest of our fee please" He said holding at him and holding out his other hand.

The Man reached in his coat and pulled out a pouch of coins and handed it to to the captain "Good luck... not like it will do you any good... last chance to change your mind and get the second part of your payment back"

The man ignored him and stepped over the rail in to the smaller boat.

"Hey one last thing... whats your name?" The captain asked.

The man looked at him "Why do you care?" he asked.

"Because... I'm gonna need to tell the Undertaker what to have carved into the newest tombstone for the graveyard" He smirked.

The man sat down in the boat and looked forward "Uchiha Sasuke" He said before he unsheathed his katana and sliced the two ropes holding the boat, allowing it to drop to the rough waters below.

"Hey you didn't need to cut the rope land-lover..." A sailor said angrily

"Easy sailor... We can get another 100 yard length of rope for a gold coin" The captain said happily "And between his upfront deposit and this lil pouch o money we just scored 600..."

"I'll never understand why people keep wanting to go there... they might as well hang themselves in their bedrooms" The sailor stated

"I don't care... as long as people are gonna be dumb enough go to that continent, we're gonna make a profit from it heheheheh..." The captain laughed before walking back towards the the stairs to the upper deck "BRING HER AROUND WE'RE GOING HOME MEN!" he shouted as he twirled his finger in the air

"AYE-AYE CAP'N!" The crew shouted vigorously and the lumber ship began a turn leaving the vicinity of the small life boat and returning in the direction it came from.

Sasuke rowed his small boat in the same direction towards the black splotch in the distance that was the continent of Elysium...

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Back in the fog covered forest...

"YOU WANT US TO WHAT? AGAINST WHO? FOR HOW MANY DUMPLINGS?" Naruto barked at Hinata

"I'll say it again... the gods chose you to be the ones to confront the first demon Aldin and his 7 GreatLords... defeat him and lift the fog from this land... if you don't it wont be long before Aldin has completed his preparations... once he does the fog will creep across the globe, and soon no continent will be safe..." Hinata explained

"I understand that you want us to beat Aldin, and that's all well and dandy, but couple of questions here..." Ino said "Why do we have to kill his 7 GreatLords, or whatever? And what makes you think we can even beat Aldin?"

"Seriously... we're only 3 people" Naruto stated

"Shortly after I arrived here I confronted Aldin, and after a violent battle, that claimed my eye and almost killed me, then he retreated to the Nexus, to avoid being disrupted again. He developed what he dubbed the '7 Creations'. These 'creations' are keys. He entrusted his 7 GreatLords with their protection Aldin has sealed himself deep within the Nexus itself... behind 7 layers of sealing... each layer can only be opened by their corresponding creations..." She explained "After my defeat at Aldin's hands, I was no longer strong enough to face his GreatLords. I've spent years here and it's gotten to the point to where it takes almost all of my energy just to prevent the fog from warping me into yet another demon"

"Okay but you haven't answered my second question... what makes you think we can beat Aldin?" Ino asked again

"I've told you before... I did not choose you 3... the gods did... they are the one who believe you can do" Hinata answered "And if they believe you can... so do I"

"Pttf... bullshit... the gods don't exist... their just a fair tale told to kids. They are a lazy attempt to explain things that happen in the world that people don't understand" Naruto said crossing his arms

Sakura slammed a fist into the top of head sending him to the ground "Shut you blasphemous mouth you cur! How DARE you speak of the gods that way?" she barked

Naruto sat up and glared at her "What the fuck? Fine you want to believe in fairy dust and imaginary beings who wont even show their faces go ahead... but don't expect me to believe it, agree with it or listen to you yammer about it" Naruto said rubbing his head.

Sakura growled.

"I have to agree with Naruto... I don't believe in the gods either..." Ino said

"I assure you both... you will believe by the time your journey comes to an end" Hinata explained "Whether or not you believe in the gods now... doesn't matter... your only hope to escape the fog of this land is to face Aldin and defeat him, closing the Nexus which pumps the fog eternally into our realm"

"Yeah right... you ladies enjoy your suicide mission, but if there's anything I've learned in the 17 years of my life is that self preservation comes first... have fun getting ripped apart" Naruto said walking away.

Hinata, grew a stern look and vanished in a blur before appearing in front of Naruto "Whoa what the-" He was cut off by the witch, flicking her finger into his chest, releasing a pulse of energy, sending him sliding back to the fire on his back.

"Don't Be an Ignorant fool..." Hinata said angrily "You can't just wander into the fog... The Soulless and The Demons will rip you apart... and not to mention a week of exposure to the fog will turn you into a demon yourself"

"ouch-ouch-ouch" Naruto mumbled as he sat up "what the hell was that for?" He barked as Sakura and Ino began chuckling.

"That's for shaking me earlier... and to get a point through your head" Hinata explained "There is no walking away... even if you did get to the shore and found a functioning boat the fog WILL NOT let you leave. Your only option is to face Aldin"

"Ugh... fine... I guess we are all gonna die together then..." Naruto said standing up and brushing himself off "yippee hooray"

"What are 'The Soulless' you mentioned?" Sakura asked.

"In this land the laws of victory are different then the rest of the world... here when you take the life of an opponent or victim, you claim their soul power... leaving an empty corpse behind... the fog has the power to reanimate the corpse into the living dead... mindless monsters that know only how to kill" Hinata explained

"Wicked..." Ino said

"We have talked long enough... its time you all began your trip... you must go to the the Capital of Alabaster... Aurea" Hinata said before pointing to her left through the forest "Once there, you with find a large stone road lined with large golden statues on either side in the east section. This road leads to Pyre Volcano... deep in the volcano lies the first GreatLord you will face..."

"...a... volcano... you want us... to go INSIDE a volcano?" Naruto proclaimed "ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?"

"I assure you... it is not as dangerous of a place to be as you might think... the volcano has not erupted since almost a century before the fog ever set in. I believe that the lava can only be found in the GreatLords chamber deep inside" Hinata explained

"meh-yee-meh, you BELIEVE... right there is my problem... you don't KNOW" Naruto said

"Would you stop complaining about everything she says?" Ino said

Naruto just sighed and rolled his eyes "No one else has concerns about walking into a VOLCANO? REALLY?"

"Well we're stuck here so we don't have much choice now do we?" Sakura said

"I suppose... well lets get this over with..." Naruto sighed as he put his hands on his hips

"None of you and walking out of this fires light... not without these..." Hinata reached in her robe and tossed a small stone talisman with runic symbols covering it, to Naruto, then one to Ino and one to Sakura "These charms will prevent the fog from corrupting your bodies and souls"

"Nifty..." Naruto said before slipping the talisman into his jacket pocket

"So this fire is protecting us from the fog right now?" Sakura asked as she pointed to the fire

"Yes... its a purifying flame... its light prevents the fog from effecting you. It insures that the fog is no more dangerous than a normal fog" Hinata elaborated

"Anything else we should know before we walk into our suicide mission?" Naruto asked

"Yes...Take these as well..." she handed them each another set of talismans "Envision a place here in Elysium, and focus energy into the talismans and you will be teleported there, it makes traveling this land easier"

"Joy... so we can get to our deaths even quicker?" Naruto sarcastically remarked and clapped before sighing "We're all gonna die..."

The three women glared invisible death at the thief, shrinking him into a chibi state.

* * *

A fog filled beach...

Waters beat against the sandy shore... and cascaded around the body of a certain, red eyed, black haired man as he lay in the sand "Ugh..." He grunted before pushing himself up to his knees

He looked around and saw all the fog... He turned his head behind himself and looked at the ocean which vanished under the deep fog not ten feet away.

"That was a mean storm... well I supposed it doesn't matter... I'm here now." Sasuke said to himself before standing to his feet and brushing the sand off himself

He started walking towards the tree's just off the beach and vanished into the woods

* * *

back in the fog filled forest...

"I wish you luck young warriors... you will need it..." The witch said "I must stay here and rest... but we will meet again"

"Well... lets get to it..." Sakura said

Naruto sighed and started walking in the direction The witch had pointed them in the other two right behind him

After they walked for a few minutes Ino turned to the others "well if we're all gonna be working together we might as well learn a bit about each others skills..."

"Good point... what are your qualifications Ino?" Sakura asked

"I'm a bounty hunter, so I'm good at tracking, hunting and restraining... and I have fair telekinetic power" Ino said with a shrug before she pulled a small metal, two inch long, purple rod out a pouch on her hip. "I use this for a weapon..."

Sakura looked at it "Holy crap... is that a Polycrafter?" Sakura asked

"Yeah, most people don't even know what it is, because, ironically these weapons originate from here in Elysium... with this land being cut out from the rest of the world the knowledge of the how to make them was lost and only a few even still exist. This was my fathers, he gave it to me before he disappeared" Ino explained

"What the hell is a Polycrafter?" Naruto asked

"A Polycrafter is a weapon that becomes ANY type of weapon you can imagine" Sakura explained

"Yeah... watch" Ino said before she slightly whipped her hand with her weapon forward and the Polycrafter began to glow for a split second before it quickly morphed into a full sized spear with a large and jagged arrowhead shaped blade at the end

"hmph... pretty cool..." Naruto said with intrigue in his voice and face

Ino retracted the spear to its original state and put it back in her pouch "What about you Sakura... I've seen holy knights before... but never one that didn't carry a weapon around, you a magic user?"

Sakura held her right hand up and clinched her fist "I use divination magic yeah... but these fists are my weapons" Sakura said

"Ha that's funny..." Naruto remarked "I'd like to see that... who do you think you are? The holy knight Tsunade?"

Sakura gnarled and suddenly swung her fist at Naruto barely dodged it, falling on his ass, letting her fist collide with ground witch ruptured a crater into the ground, sending cracks sprawling out from the impact of her fist

Naruto's eye twitched in astonishment

"Tsunade was my master... you miserable thief" Sakura said, ripping her fist out of the ground

Naruto stood to his feet "Okay... I suppose that makes sense..."

"What about you...?" Ino looked at Naruto who put his hands behind his head

"I'm a thief... I steal stuff... I don't know how the word thief didn't explain it to you" Naruto stupidly

Sakura rammed her fist into the top of his head... shattering him to chibi pieces "Not that you nit-wit... can you fight?"

Naruto's pieces collected back together and he looked at her, rubbing the top of his head which had a large red lump "Try hitting me again and find out" he sneered

Sakura slowly closed her right fist, her knuckles popping with each finger she closed, a blood vessel bulged on her forehead. The pink haired female reared her fist back and drove it at the thief.

Naruto front flipped over her fist, twisted around and hooked his arm around her neck and legs around her waist from behind and pulled her to the ground, in a choke hold "Let me guess... you're not muscularly strong... you just focus your magical energy and release it from your fist on impact with something... right?" He said sternly, as Sakura grabbed at his arm trying to get him of.

"HEY! Cut it out you two!" Ino said as she pulled out her Polycrafter, ready to use it if needed to break up the fight

Naruto looked at her and held out his free hand as a white magic circle appeared in his palm and he blasted a jet of silver fire at Ino, who quickly changed her Polycrafter into a shield which the fire collided with.

Ino slid back from the force of the fire

"_Silver fire...?_" Sakura thought herself "_could he... no, it can't be_"

"I don't want any lip from a damned bounty hunter..." Naruto said. He then turned his attention to Sakura "I am SICK of high and mighty people like you... people who were born in to families with money, I grew up on the streets alone, constantly being looked down on by people like you... never lifting a finger to help a starving kid... you have NO idea what I had to endure just to get by... you want to criticize me being a thief? It's the only way I could survive. I've had to learn to fight, steal, hunt and evade, everyday of my life! Don't... EVER try to think you're better than me... cuz in the end... we're all dust waiting for the wind to blow us away"

Sakura pulled her elbow up and rammed it into his side

"AArrgh..." Naruto grunted before before for he let her go and shot a small silver fire ball into her side sending her rolling off of him

Naruto coughed and sat up, holding his side and cringing

Sakura rolled to her stomach and pushed herself to her hands and knees "... I'm sorry..." she said

Naruto looked at her and saw tears running down her cheek and dripping to the grass and dirt below

"...I DO understand how you feel" Sakura said solemnly

"h-how?" Naruto asked, puzzled

"I was homeless and alone too... I was found on an orphanage door steps as a baby not even a year old... by the time i was five I couldn't stand the orphanage any more... constantly being ridiculed for my pink hair... so I left... and I would have died on the streets... if Tsunade hadn't found me and took me in... she raised me like her own child and trained me to survive, she gave me faith in the gods." Sakura said

Naruto looked down "At least you found someone..." He said, standing up and holding a hand out to her

Sakura looked up at him and took his hand and he helped her to her feet "Thanks..."

"I guess we're all alone..." Ino said "my mom died giving birth to me and my father vanished the night before my 10th birthday... the only thing he left was a good bye note and the Polycrafter"

"So I guess we're all not so different..." Sakura said wiping tears "I wonder if this is really the gods destiny for us to meet?"

"I would agree with you if i believed in the gods..." Naruto said

Naruto and Sakura heard Ino's voice from the side "umm... guys are we done with our touching moment of bonding?" she said "Because we got company..."

Naruto and Sakura looked over to Ino and then to what she was looking at. They saw a 4 armored men... but their armor was dented, rusty and greatly damaged... and underneath their flesh was rotting.

"Raawwwuugghh" One of them gurgled as it reared a sword in its hand up and ran at the blond girl

"I take it these are the Soulless that Hinata was talking about..." Ino said, holding her shield up to block the zombies sword strike, before pushing into the shield sending its sword back before she charged her shield into a spear once again and stabbing it in the chest and ripped the spear out of its left side... it fell over dead.

Sakura tightened the glove on her right hand and clinched her fist before hooking a punch into the gut of one of the Soulless then with her other fist, upper-cut it in the chin so hard its helmet flew off revealing its decayed face. Sakura then, jabbed it in the face... ripping its rotted head off its shoulders and it fell down.

Naruto unsheathed his two swords and ran at the last two, one with a hand axe and the other with a spear. The one with a pear stabbed at him and he deflected it wit his sword slicing the pole of the spear in two, before holding his other sword up to block a downward strike from the one with the axe.

Naruto hooked the blade into the curve of the hand axe and yanked it out of its hand before he spun around and wit the momentum, sliced both of the Soulless in two just above their hips. The severed bodies fell to the ground.

"wow..." Naruto said before sheathing his blades. "Hinata made them seem more dangerous than that..."

"That doesn't mean they aren't a threat still..." Ino said

"And weren't we supposed to get their souls for killing them..?" Naruto asked.

"you idiot... what part of 'Soulless' escapes your understanding?" Ino retorted.

"... oohh yeah... hehehe" He said rubbing the back of his head

"_You mortals think that you can survive this just because you killed a few worthless zombies?_" the trio heard from up above, and they whipped their attention to their right and saw a man crouched, high up and a branch of a tree.

He had a black cloak around his body and silver armor on his hands lower legs and a chest plate. A hood and bandages covered his face.

"Who are you?" Ino asked reforming her spear and pointing it him

His blood shot blue eyes widened as if he realized something "That weapon... it seems this is destiny... I know you... but I don't know how or why. It seems the destiny threads are at work here. I am not here to harm you... but be warned mortals... there are things at work here, things you will not understand and that can kill you" He looked at Naruto "And you... heheh... you're a special one... you were chosen long ago by a certain something, before the gods chose you for this mission" He said before vanishing into a black mist.

The mans voice echoed through area "_Good luck mortals... to the creatures and beings here... you are just cattle, mehehehe-ahahahhahahah_" He cackled before his voice fade.

Ino retracted her Polycrafter and put in her pouch... "That guy gives me the creeps... something about him is off"

"Well, he is gone now... so we might as well get moving" Naruto said

"Yeah... this forest is sending chills down my spin" Sakura said

"What did he mean when he said I was special?" Naruto asked

"I have a feeling we'll find out, soon enough" Sakura stated

They began to continue their trek through the forest... unbeknown to them... Sasuke walked up and saw them walking from in the brush, his hand on a tree next to him "More people looking for the artifact..?" he said to himself

* * *

Hinata was back at the fire, sitting down with her staff in her lap, meditating. She opened her one good eye and looked to her right "Reveal yourself Wanderer ... I know you're there"

The man with the bandaged face appeared in a black mist next to her, chuckling.

"What is it you want Wanderer?" She asked.

"Those three mortal children... them being here is your doing, isn't it, Witch?" He asked

"Me and the gods, yes" Hinata said "Why?"

"I know you know what sleeps in the boy's soul... don't you?" Wanderer said

"I am well aware." Hinata said "I may be missing one of my eyes but I am still the All-Seeing Witch"

"He knows whats in him... yet he doesn't... the question is... will he use it the way you intend. There is a great darkness in that boys heart" he said

"And there is a light... one that must be nurtured to out grow the darkness... that is why the gods gave him those girls" Hinata said

"We shall see, Witch..." He said before vanishing ins black mist "...we shall see..."

Hinata turned her eye to face forward and closed her eye "What you don't remember, Wanderer, is that your one true treasure lies within that group" she said to herself

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED

Well that was the next chapter. Stop being stingy and review lol

Until next time... this is Damiad... signing off from THE VOID


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